but He does

"It is a mystery to me how the sovereign King of the Universe bends His ear to consider the thoughts and pleadings of mortal humans, but He does. So we pray." --David Brickner

happiness...

is having a little sister to love.

Congratulations to my little sister, Shawna Ruth! And welcome to the family Jordan (though you've long been like family to all of us)!

We love you both so much!!

bananas!

Havilah was outright begging for real food so she got her very first taste of bananas. She loves it!

Grandma Tapp was here

We wore out Grandma Tapp (great-grandma to the kids) with plenty of play time this week. (-: We hadn't seen each other in a year and a half so it was nice to catch up and enjoy time together!

p.s. most of the pics were on her camera--I'll be able to put up a few more when I get them from her

Wednesday...

we so enjoyed a few hours with Megan, Jim, and Shane:

s'mores

On Friday night we had a bonfire in the backyard and toasted our very own s'mores. Billy and I both thought they were the best s'mores we have ever had. John had a big one all to himself but he gave it to me after a bite or two. I was happy to help him finish it!

these are a few of my favorite things...

Craigslist! Positively addicting...but I now have furniture for my front room and it didn't cost a fortune (best of all, I don't mind if the kids jump on the cushions or eat crackers while I read to them here).

Siblings who absolutely love each other. If it weren't for the fact that they're naked in the bath, I would post a video of them laughing at each other in the tub. They both get their legs kicking and their hands splashing and neither of them can stop laughing, especially Hava. Precious.

(ok, this picture isn't really of my favorite thing, but I wanted you to see Havilah admiring John's Wedgits creation.)

Double-sided tape. A bit of the stuff made it possible for me to stick up the whole alphabet on John's walls in about 20 minutes (s-z are on the other walls). Oh, and it was so much easier than painting those white walls!

It's the little things in life, really. Love, E